The present invention relates to an arrangement for securing a cap to the end of a supporting body of a hammer mill rotor that has a plurality of supporting body ends disposed next to one another and staggered in the direction of rotation of the rotor, with hammer shafts being mounted in the supporting body ends and extending parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotor over the length of the rotor. A respective hammer or shaft-protecting member is mounted, in such a way that it can swing, between each two adjacent, spaced-apart supporting body ends that are disposed parallel to one another.
With hammer mill rotors, caps are used to reduce the wear that occurs during operation at the ends of the supporting bodies, and to avoid time consuming repairs, such as the welding or sputtering of wear-resistant material onto these supporting body ends.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,848 discloses a cap that covers a portion of the peripheral surface of the supporting body and the forward supporting body end face as viewed in the direction of rotation of the rotor. Securement of this known cap is effected by inserting beads or abutments that are disposed on both sides of the cap web into corresponding recesses of a socket in the supporting body. When the hammer shaft is inserted, the cap is kept from falling off.
The drawback of this heretofore known cap securement is that the cap can be removed, for example for replacement, only after the hammer shaft has been removed. Thus, it is a very complicated and time consuming process to remove a single cap.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide for securement of a cap in such a way that, while retaining the advantage of the positive transmission of the centrifugal forces that act upon the cap to the supporting body, the cap can be removed without having to remove the hammer shaft, and the cap has a longer service life.